This study utilizes a 2 × 2 scenario-based experiment to test
the conceptual model that emerges from the qualitative
interviews. The scenarios manipulate perceived receptivity
of the customer (high/low) and perceived similarity of the
customer (high/low). A pretest of 170 participants (average
age 27, 65 percent female) confirmed that the manipulations
were successful; thus, the scenarios were retained for
the main experiment (see the Appendix for the scenarios).
Half of the pretest respondents worked in apparel and 16
percent worked for department stores. In the main experiment,
participants were instructed that they would be presented
with a fictional scenario and asked to imagine that
the scenario occurred at the store for which they currently
worked. The participants were also told that the questions
following the scenario would ask about their interpretation
of the information in the scenario.
In the scenarios, a customer who looks either similar or